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How-To Geek

Everybody is familiar with the most rudimentary of lens cleaning techniques–a swipe with a clean sleeve–but what about giving your lens a thorough and lens-friendly cleaning? This detailed video shows you how to get the cleanest lens around.

In the above video the guys at Nikon Help Hotline show you how to give your camera lens a deep and proper cleaning in a way that will remove dust, lift oils, and ensure that your expensive lens isn’t scratched in the process. It’s not the kind of cleaning you’ll do every day (or even every week), but when a swipe with a lens cloth isn’t cutting it anymore you’ll know how to return it to a show-room shine while preserving the pristine optics you paid so much for.

Jason Fitzpatrick is warranty-voiding DIYer and all around geek. When he's not documenting mods and hacks he's doing his best to make sure a generation of college students graduate knowing they should put their pants on one leg at a time and go on to greatness, just like Bruce Dickinson. You can follow him on Google+ if you'd like.

@Kieran you realize those ppl are from italy and their native language isn’t anywhere close to english? for someone who doesn’t speak english as primary language, the english is really good. so, shut up and enjoy.

@maxthon: If this is not the way, why not tell us what is the way? That said, they emphasize it’s important not to touch the surface with the metal, and anybody who does not have the skill to do that should not be cleaning a lens anyway.

Sorry, meant to mention in addition to my last post. You can use Isopropyl alcohol but buy it at a hardware or paint store since it will not contain Mineral Oil. Rubbing alcohol is for medical purposes and contains the mineral oil to keep from drying out your skin. The oil actually make cleaning your lens more difficult. Honestly, I use Windex brand glass cleaner. I’d avoid just about any other brand and if you cn afford it the best lens cleaner around is ROR (Residual Oil Remover) which you can find at most reputable camera stors.

Would it be safe to use pressurized air to remove dust? I would also think it would be better to turn the lens upside down when you are brushing the dust off because you could see some particles of dust that were left around the edges of the lens in the video. If you don’t turn it upside down, the brush is just moving the dust around.

GEEK TRIVIA

DID YOU KNOW?

The claim that “orange” is the only word in the English language without a rhyme is false. There are hundreds of words without perfect rhymes including: bulb, filmed, ninth, and, rather ironically, poem.